The swallowtail family of butterflies include the largest butterflies in the world. The common yellow swallowtail here is a widespread species, through Asia, Europe and North America. The image here is from the Island of Rhodes in Greece, but a subspecies of the same occurs in India.

It is interesting to note that in some species of the papilionidae family of butterflies, the males glue the female genital tract after mating. Mating plugs, as they are called, assures sperm storage without any loss, and also has a role in preventing the females from remating- a function to enhance male control over females in copulation. Not sure if the yellow swallowtails have this capability.

Meanwhile, the caterpillars of the common yellow swallowtails have special tactics to detract enemies. They have an eversible (turn inside out) cervical gland called osmeterium, which produces acidic secretion effective in defense against ants.

The common yellow swallowtails are bi/trivoltine, as they have 2 or 3 broods per year. The number of broods decrease for the species found from the tropics to subtropics and far north. This is probably due to the fact that the emerging time of the butterflies from its pupa depends on the temperature outside. If it is warm, it may come out in a couple of weeks but if it is cold, it may take up to several months for the butterfly to emerge.

Species: Papilio machaon, Common Name: Common Yellow Swallowtail, Family: Papilonidae
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It is gaudy, and it is a baron! The gaudy baron butterfly has a splash of iridescent colors on its hindwings. The image here is of a female baron near a puddle. Butterflies show affinity to wet substrates to gather their supply of liquid nutrients, especially salts – a behavior known as mud puddling.

It is usually the males which do the mud-puddling, gather the essential salts, and transfer it to the females through it sperm, while mating. Hence the males are frequent puddlers as they need to replenish the sodiums after mating. The one in the image here is but a female. Why is it at a puddle instead of a flower? Research shows that old or worn out female butterflies which have lesser chances of re-mating, exhibit puddling to replenish their sodium reserves. Also, many female butterfly species do not re-mate, requiring them to gather their nutrients on their own. I am not sure if one of these is the reason for this female gaudy baron to be at the puddle. Puddling behavior varies from species to species. Some nymphalidae species use droplets from their abdomen to moisten the ground on which minerals are present.
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With its large, cherubic features and long trailing tails, the moon moths are one of the prettiest among moths. The Indian Moon Moth belong to the family Saturniidae, commonly known as saturniids, which are among the largest of the moths.

The Indian moon moths are nocturnal or crepuscular – i.e. they favor night or dim/twilight conditions. They are also silk producing moths, and hence tagged as sericigenous. A single cocoon of this moon moth can give continuous fiber of 300 to 350 meters. Silk moths are hence valued based on their voltinism, i.e. the number of broods they produce in an year. The Indian moon moths are trivoltine as they produce up to 3 generations of broods per year.
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The lynx spiders don’t build a web for catching prey, but are ambush hunters, just like the crab spiders. They often stay motionless around flowers where they are sure the prey would come and say hello to them. Their long spiny legs and characteristic eyes make them easy to identify.

Hiding by nectar flowers assure them their daily diet, like the one below. They are considered euryphagous, which means they aren’t picky about the food they eat.

Once they capture their food, they go to the rear of the flower or retreat down to the bush to feed the prey.
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The stream ruby belongs to the chlorocyphidae family of damselflies, commonly known as jewels.

Stream Ruby is one of these beautiful jewels, with their conspicuous rusty orange stripes on their thorax. Their natural habitat are hill streams, giving them the name stream ruby. This one might be a male; the stripes on the female are more yellowish.
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